ComicCon-Networked Culture and Participatory Business in the US, Japan, and China

Abstract

ComicCon represents the coming-together of a participatory fan culture and a transmedial, multigenre commercial culture. This thesis analyzes the international ComicCon culture and its business strategies, including both online social networks and real-time fan interactions during the events. This thesis first presents ComicCon from a social perspective, that is, ComicCon is both a social club and a fandom classroom. The author uses NodeXL to generate and code data on Twitter with the hashtag #animeusa to analyze the first-hand, public commentary and discussions by fans. Then the thesis goes on to compare the social-focused Japanese Doujin Market with its US counterpart, the market-focused US ComicCon. Second, in a market perspective, this thesis analyzes the marketing strategies employed by the associated media companies and fan producers. The author uses data gleaned from direct observations of the conventions themselves to analyze the value delivery networks embedded in the comic conventions. The author selects two companies as case studies--Marvel Comics in New York Comic Con 2017 and Logitech in ChinaJoy 2016. These case studies compare marketing strategies in terms of technological platforms, panel designs, product dissemination, and detailed promotional tools in the conventions. Finally, this study shows both the themes of ComicCon and the market strategies of media companies differ markedly according to different cultural preferences, technology platforms, and market environments.